July 28, 2014 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org – As if its biased reporting on the Gaza campaign weren’t enough, the New York Times has now started running a daily body count as the Israelis continue to hammer HAMAS. [see, Karen Yourish and Josh Keller, The Toll in Gaza and Israel, Day by Day]

This journo-stunt is of course intended to present the Israelis as uncaring butchers of innocents; that narrative being consistent with the Times’ editorial stance.

Though the current phase of the Israeli-HAMAS war is of recent origin, the body count tactic is a well used tool of the left as it seeks to manipulate public opinion.

During the majority of the GW Bush administration, the Times and other legacy media outlets published an above the fold, front page body count - showing the number of dead and injured - as the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq played out.

This was a small part in the non-stop effort by the left to provide aid and comfort to the enemy in hopes of the U.S. losing both of these wars, an outcome to which Team Obama is fully committed.

The media strategy here is pretty basic, create a constant drum-roll of bad news so that the American people lose faith and become convinced that conflicts are unwinnable and ultimately not worthy of their support.

The body count game was perfected during the Vietnam war and in that context did exactly what its authors intended, persuading the public that the U.S. had been militarily defeated when in actuality it was winning on the battlefield. That the situation on the ground in Vietnam bore little resemblance to the negative reportage coming from the Western press was of no consequence. Thus the overwhelming majority of the American public came to believe the “war is lost” narrative, promulgated in large part by CBS’ chief anchor Walter Cronkite. It was Cronkite, after all, who was responsible for the fable that the 1968 Tet Offensive was the United States’ Dien Bien Phu when in reality it was so disastrous for the North Vietnamese and the VC that subsequent diplomatic communications indicated that they felt they had lost the war.

The template has been the same ever since; as soon as the U.S. becomes militarily involved or moves in that direction, out comes the disinformation machine.mAs a consequence of the 24x7 info-news cycle, a large chunk of the daily routine of running a huge military campaign has to be devoted to public relations messaging.

July 28, 2014 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org – Hamas is one of the Western legacy media’s favored children and the degree to which it pimps for the group is really pretty remarkable.

There’s very little outright criticism of HAMAS by the press and what does exist is winnowed through a weird sieve in which conflation rules. There is little the group can do where some enterprising and creative journo can’t gin-up some kind of equivalency or “contextualize” the matter with reference to a similar “atrocity” committed by the Israelis.

July 22, 2014 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org – We have confirmed from multiple first-hand sources that HAMAS terrorists have dragged babies into combat, using them as human shields while attacking.

The non-state-owned media backs this story up, for example:

“One parent reported that terrorists had run at IDF soldiers with a gun in one hand and a baby in the other…” [source, Shimon Cohen, Maayana Miskin, Soldier: Terrorists Charged with Babies in Hand, Arutz Sheva]

It is established fact that HAMAS and other Muslim terrorists routinely use the most defenseless in their societies to protect them during attacks. If the IDF or other counter-terror force responds and any of these children are injured then there is a hungry legacy media primed and ready to push the anti-Semitic “Zionist killer” narrative.

We have noted several large MSM news sources which are feverishly claiming that HAMAS doesn’t use children as human shields, unfortunately for them HAMAS has admitted this is standard policy for them.

The UK Independent, a hard left cesspool of misinformation, actually published an article claiming that the HAMAS – child shield story is a “myth.”

July 22, 2014 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org – Today a brief glance at some of the world’s terror hot spots.

Egypt - President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has vowed to avenge the recent terrorist attack against Egyptian troops in the al-Wadi al-Jadid governorate which left 22 dead. Al-Wadi al-Jadid is located in central/southwestern Egypt and comprises about 1/3 of the country’s territory. El-Sisi has charged unnamed terrorists and members of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood for the violence.

Al-Wadi al-Jidad and Libya share a border and security concerns have risen since President Obama/NATO’s short-lived but effective air war against the nation which deposed long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi and thoroughly destabilized the country. Libya now serves as something of a terror central haven for jihadists as well as a source and shipping point for heavy weapons which were looted from Gaddafi’s armories after his death. Arguably the most dangerous piece of hardware to come out of Libya’s huge stockpile are shoulder fired surface to air missiles of varying types, some of which are quite sophisticated. El-Sisi, who so far has showed a remarkable talent for pulling together a country which was in tatters in the wake of Morsi’s terrorist government, fears that Libya’s instability represents a major threat to Egypt’s national security as the attack on al-Wadi al-Jadid proved.

Iraq/Syria - As ISIS consolidates power in Iraq its gains in that country are having a negative effect on its neighbor, Syria. The rout of the Iraqi army has provided Baghdadi’s “caliphate,” with great quantities of U.S. supplied heavy weapons, which along with the hundreds of millions looted from Iraqi banks have reinvigorated the Sunni jihadists which have been fighting against the Assad government since shortly after the initial 2011 uprising.

Gaza - The war continues to expand with Israel now driving deep into Gaza in combined operations designed to hamstring HAMAS by destroying the network of tunnels the group uses as shelter and to gain access to the Jewish state. Important pieces of HAMAS infrastructure have also come under attack including its command/control centers. HAMAS continues the practice of using its people as human shields in a so-far successful attempt [the Western media doesn’t need much pushing to tilt towards the terrorists against the Israelis] to influence world public opinion. Secretary of State Kerry has been a constant presence during the conflict, displaying a particularly oafish approach to the now entirely discredited “peace process” which has greatly harmed U.S. credibility in the region.

What the conflict comes down to is really quite simple, paraphrasing Daniel Pipes PhD; it’s a war between civilization and barbarism, with HAMAS representing the latter. As Israeli PM Netanyahu succinctly puts it, "Here's the difference between us. We're using missile defense to protect our civilians, and they're using their civilians to protect their missiles."

Hamas-Like Tactics - Administration Using Children As Human Shields In Political Warfare

By CHERYL GATESWORTH

July 16, 2014 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org - Just when it seemed that immigration reform was moribund in Congress, a new wrinkle has been added to the immigration controversy.

Upwards of 60,000 unaccompanied minors have entered the United States illegally since April of this year. They have for the most part entered through the Southern border of Texas and are largely from Central America. This has changed the terms of the immigration debate since children have traditionally been treated with more sensitivity and circumspection than adults.

What’s the background of this, and who are the players?

First, in Third World culture the young are often treated simply as small adults with no special statues afforded to childhood. In South American countries young children are often sent out on the streets to beg, sometimes even intentionally disfigured to make them more appealing figures, especially to tourists.

These children are more often than many realize, used as underage, unwilling prostitutes.

The Obama administration has [with the ever compliant legacy media rolling over without protest] imposed a media blackout, generally refusing to allow pictures of the “children.”

In the West this used to be called press censorship.

The few government approved photo ops presented for media consumption are hand selected and staged to present the administration to best effect. Workers in these detention centers [many supplied by complicit faux-Christian church groups] have been sworn to silence. Medical personnel have been threatened and forbidden to discuss what they are observing, teeming hordes of young illiterates, some of whom carry deadly infections or “childhood” diseases which were once common but have through increased attention to public health and hygiene, been almost completely eliminated here in the United States.

A casual look at group pictures of these illegals, seems to indicate that many of these “children” are in their teens and are disproportionately boys - some of whom are undoubtedly gang members.

July 14, 2014 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org – The public policy group America’s Survival, Inc. (ASI) is holding a Wednesday news conference to discuss Bill Ayers’ recent appearance on Megyn Kelly’s Fox News program and the campaign to whitewash the activities of the communist terrorists who were murdering policemen and FBI agents during the 1960s and 70s. ASI President Cliff Kincaid says the Ayers appearance is one aspect of a campaign to rehabilitate Ayers and his communist comrades, some of whom remain in prison and are demanding presidential pardons.

The news conference is being held at 1:00 pm Wednesday in the Zenger room of the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC. 20045. It is open to the press and the public.

Kincaid will release a statement on the controversy from former FBI agent Max Noel, who is “extremely disappointed” in Kelly’s interview of Ayers, including her failure to talk about a Weather Underground bomb factory where Ayers’ fingerprints were found. Kincaid will show photos of that bomb factory and the bomb-making equipment found there.

Broadcaster and television producer Jerry Kenney will talk about the factors that led cable television news to morph into what has become the news-entertainment genre and how Fox News CEO Roger Ailes' approach to communications and on-air production techniques are designed to create the illusion of news. “The result is a 24/7 news cycle that is high on hype and low on substance,” Kenney says.

July 14, 2014 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org – Though it’s generally been accepted that Boko Haram was responsible for the June 25 blast at a Lagos, Nigeria fuel depot, the group hadn’t taken credit for it.

In the interim this has allowed government officials to not only deny that Boko was involved, but make the absurd claim that the explosion wasn’t caused by a bomb.

“Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES after the Lagos incident, Ngozi Braide, the Lagos State Police Spokesperson, said the explosion was caused by a tanker conveying petrol. “There is nothing whatsoever suggesting that it was a bomb explosion, it was a tanker loaded with fuel that burst into flames,” Ms. Braide said. The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, attributed the cause of the fire to a gas cylinder explosion.” [source, Boko Haram Claims Responsibility For Lagos Blast , African Premium Times]

Though Nigeria’s citizens would be far better off knowing the truth about what is happening in their country and who was causing the bloodshed, the government knows better. In the face of a growing Islamist rebellion, officials at every level of government have either lied about or attempted to minimize the terror group’s role in the worsening crisis. In what would be a comical aside were not the stakes in this conflict so high, Nigerian spokesmen at one point this year claimed the organization's leader, Abubakar Shekau, had been killed. This was of course immediately followed by a video showing a very alive Shekau taunting Jonathan’s government.

July 11, 2014 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org – While world attention has turned to the renewed intensity of the Syrian/Iraqi conflict, especially with regard to ISSA [ see for example, William Mayer, The Exponential Growth of Revolutionary Islam Under President Obama , PipeLineNews.org] it’s important to remember that, unfortunately, jihadist terror in Africa continues to ramp up.

This is especially true in the case of Nigeria’s Boko Haram.

On June 25, the Nigerian al-Qaeda franchise bombed a fuel depot in Lagos resulting in numerous casualties. The toll could have been horrific if any of the fuel containers had been set ablaze, the obvious intent of the attack.

Whenever possible the government intentionally under-counts casualties and exaggerates the number of enemy KIA, before having to revise them upwards as the truth leaks out.

“Nigeria’s military forces are clearly unable to contain this threat. It’s actually worse than that as President Jonathan has at times directed his press representatives to claim that Boko Haram’s leader, Shekau, had been killed and group was in disarray. These claims have always been followed by an increase in terror activity, often accompanied by videos featuring an obviously very much alive Abubakar Shekau.” [ Nigeria’s Boko Haram Hell , PipeLineNews.org]

July 8, 2014 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org – Israel is on a war footing. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has promised that HAMAS will pay a heavy price for the renewed conflict, which stems from the terrorist group’s murder of three Israeli teens a week ago.

As many as 40,000 IDF reservists might be called up in preparation for what appears to be a land-based offensive against Gaza’s HAMAS government.

On Monday and Tuesday over 100 air and sea strikes were carried out, most likely a precursor to a further action in Gaza. Hard hit in these operations were Rafah and Gaza City.

In the relative lull in military confrontations post Israel’s 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense, Iran has taken the opportunity to arm HAMAS with an advanced missile capable of reaching Tel Aviv.

"Hamas’ most dangerous weapon in its arsenal is the Iranian-made Fajr-5 missiles, capable of striking Tel Aviv. In 2012, during Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense, Hamas unloaded some of its Fajr-5’s towards Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Most security experts concur that the Fajr-5 has been smuggled into Gaza and the West Bank by the Iranian government. [source, Jordan Schachtel, Israel Prepares For Possible Ground War To Stop Hamas , BreitBart]

July 7. 2014 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org - A former Guantanamo Bay (“Gitmo”) detainee was arrested in Spain on June 16. Moroccan immigrant Lahsen Ikassrien was the leader of a Madrid based network that recruited jihadists for the so-called “holy war” (“jihad”) in Syria. Once in Syria, the jihadists from Spain were to join the highly successful terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) – or more recently simply “Islamic State.” Back in 2001 Lahsen Ikassrien was captured in Afghanistan where he had joined the Taliban and al-Qaeda. He was transfered by the Americans to Guantanamo Bay, but released in 2005. He invariably denied that he was part of al-Qaeda, but American interrogators did not believe him. Yet, the decision was taken to release him.

Ikassrien’s release in 2005 was a very bad decision indeed. Just like so many other former Gitmo detainees, Ikassrien returned to terrorism once he was back in Spain. Another former Gitmo detainee who returned to terrorism after his release was a Saeed al-Shihri. He even became the number two of Yemen’s highly dangerous al-Qaeda network and was killed by a U.S. drone attack in July 2013. Moazzam Begg, another former Gitmo detainee, was arrested in Britain last February. This second-generation Pakistani immigrant is believed to have “attended a terrorist training camp and facilitating terrorism overseas.”

Nine people were arrested in Madrid in June. Seven of them were Moroccan immigrants. They were Lahcen Ikassrien, Mohamed Khaloukh Darouani, Abdeslam el Haddouti, Oriane Chergui, Younes Zayyad, Nabil Benazzou Benhaddou and Mohamed Bouyakhlev. About fifty jihadists from Spain have now joined the jihad in Syria.

Proliferation of dangerous al-Qaeda networks in Africa, Asia and the Middle East

Islamic radicalism and terrorism pose the most serious threat to international peace and security today. Very dangerous al-Qaeda networks are proliferating in Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.